Chapter 26: Pretty Boy

Jiang Ye had clearly planned ahead and selected the hotel’s location in advance. The hotel was only a few hundred meters from the park, separated by just a wide road. They only needed to cross straight over.

People’s Park was extremely vast, with a large river flowing through its center. Several bridges spanned the river, mist hung in the air, and lush greenery surrounded the waterways. Stone steps led up to small hillsides topped with pavilions.

In addition, there was a dedicated area with amusement rides like pirate ship swings and carousels.

Jiang Ye examined the park’s monument. “This time, we really do need you.”

He turned to look at Bai Chen Zhu, his dark eyes focused and serious. “To be honest, your mental power is very special. It has a wide coverage and can ‘see’ quite a few things.”

“What you need to do now is sense the mental power fluctuations in the park and find something for me.”

Bai Chen Zhu nodded. He was a bit doubtful about whether he could do it. But since Jiang Ye had said so, he figured the man knew what he was doing. He wasn’t surprised that Jiang Ye wanted something from him. “What thing?”

“I can’t describe it, but it has relatively strong mental power fluctuations on it.” Jiang Ye stood there with his hands in his pockets, leaning casually as he thought seriously. “Within your mental power range, it should be very conspicuous.”

The park was empty of any living people wandering around now. The few zombies were on the roads and rarely came in. Therefore, the things displayed on Bai Chen Zhu’s mental network were particularly limited.

Jiang Ye pondered. “If you don’t know how to use your mental power, then close your eyes first to block out sensory interference and feel it, just like that day when you sensed the mutated rat and knew my position. I believe you can definitely detect the mental power fluctuations.”

“Let me try.” Bai Chen Zhu was skeptical but lifted his hand to touch the monument and slowly closed his eyes.

He could no longer see with his eyes. He felt vast expanses of darkness. As time passed bit by bit, in the midst of waiting, he began to make out vague outlines in the darkness.

In the darkness, Jiang Ye beside him shone as brightly as a lightbulb. Beneath his eyelids, Bai Chen Zhu’s eyeballs moved slightly. He almost laughed but held it back.

Besides that, there was a spot twinkling with faint star-like lights, like a ripple spreading out in Bai Chen Zhu’s mental network.

In a moment, he opened his eyes. “There is a place that’s pretty conspicuous, but I don’t know if it’s the thing you’re looking for.”

He gestured. “It’s not a single point of light, but many tiny lights, and among those light points, there’s one that’s especially eye-catching.”

Joy lit up Jiang Ye’s brow. He straightened up eagerly. “Then let’s go take a look.”

The location Bai Chen Zhu had sensed was diagonally across from them. They had to cross the river and go to the other side of the small hillside.

The two walked at an unhurried pace. Midway, Jiang Ye kept asking if the area nearby was safe and if there were any zombies.

At first, Bai Chen Zhu didn’t know his intent and answered seriously. But after walking some distance—without even crossing the small bridge over the river—his forehead began to ache faintly. His face paled, cold sweat beaded on his skin, and his eyelids grew heavy. He felt like he could collapse and sleep right there.

In the end, Bai Chen Zhu realized Jiang Ye was deliberately draining his mental power—it was another form of ‘training.’ He understood it in his mind, but his body felt awful. He stopped responding to Jiang Ye’s questions altogether and ignored the man completely.

Only when Jiang Ye saw that his mental power was nearly squeezed dry did he let up.

Ten or twenty minutes later, they finally reached the destination. It was a small lake formed where the river pooled in one spot. At a glance, several extremely ugly swans swam on its surface.

Yes, very ugly swans. Their bodies had patchy bald spots exposing raw flesh, their feathers were uneven, and their heads sported deformed, massive tumors.

They acted as if nothing had happened, standing rigidly and mechanically on the lake. They occasionally shook their feathers, while unidentifiable bits of flesh and blood littered the pond’s edge.

The two half-crouched in nearby bushes, spying on the group of swans.

“It should be roughly in the pond. Damn it.” Jiang Ye gritted his teeth. “I should have realized earlier—the mental power attached to that thing would attract monsters.”

“Mental power attracts monsters?” Even though Bai Chen Zhu had some inkling, this was the first time he’d heard Jiang Ye state it so plainly.

“Yeah, mental power draws monsters. It’s something they crave after losing their reason—that’s exactly why you can become ‘roast chicken.’” Jiang Ye explained to him.

Roast chicken again. Bai Chen Zhu’s face was expressionless. “That’s truly my honor.”

Jiang Ye said, “Someone like me is more attractive to them than an ordinary person, but you and Bai Tao are even more attractive than me. Among monsters, they instinctively devour each other based on mental power strength. Once it accumulates to a certain level, they regain intelligence.”

“Only, it’s no longer the original ‘it,’ but a kind of ‘newborn.’”

Bai Chen Zhu pondered thoughtfully. Jiang Ye looked at Bai Chen Zhu.

The two stared at each other for a moment. Bai Chen Zhu’s scalp instantly went numb. He quickly leaned back, putting distance between himself and Jiang Ye. “What are you doing!”

Jiang Ye blinked. “Roast chicken, you remember how we cooperated last time, right? Same as before—you lure them away, and I’ll grab the thing.”

Bai Chen Zhu shoved him. The half-crouching Jiang Ye lost balance and fell sitting on the grass. But he wasn’t angry. He just laughed there. “Help me out, yeah? I’ll be quick.”

Bai Chen Zhu watched him, glanced around, and finally looked toward the grove behind them thoughtfully: Geese probably wouldn’t climb trees, right?

Seeing the risk wasn’t high, Bai Chen Zhu gauged his own abilities. He could manage helping. So he lifted his chin. “What’s in it for me?”

“Catch you a swan to roast and eat?” Jiang Ye rubbed his chin.

The mutants swam freely in the lake. Bai Chen Zhu imagined them as roast meat and instantly lost his appetite.

“What do you want?” Jiang Ye asked directly. Since Bai Chen Zhu had brought it up, it meant he had something in mind.

But he’d overthought it. Bai Chen Zhu had just said it offhand. After all, given Jiang Ye’s character, Bai Chen Zhu could guess with his feet that refusing to help would lead to consequences like being tied up by Jiang Ye—dangling like the carrot teased before a rabbit.

That was exactly the kind of thing Jiang Ye would do.

Being proactive was better than passive. So he took the initiative and made a demand. Bai Chen Zhu thought for a moment. “I want to eat roast chicken—real roast chicken, not mutated.”

“Sure.” Jiang Ye had thought he’d ask for something big, but this deal seemed like a steal. He gestured ‘please’ with his hand, as if to say: Go ahead with your performance.

Bai Chen Zhu clicked his tongue. He took off his backpack, rummaged through it, and pulled out a fruit knife. He stuffed the bulky backpack into the bushes and shot a glance at the guy next to him. “Jiang Ye, you bastard. If something goes wrong because of your plan, I won’t let you off even if I die.”

“Great, you’re welcome to try.” Jiang Ye’s deep brows curved in amusement. He urged him on repeatedly, then ran off to crouch somewhere else.

There were about five swans, arching their long necks to preen their sparse feathers. Bai Chen Zhu watched them and took a deep breath. He knew he’d been dragged onto the pirate ship by that bastard to ‘court death.’

His current method of using mental power was crude and shallow: close his eyes, hold his breath and focus, directing his attention to a specific spot. His mental threads would then quiver like a school of fish, following his will toward the group of swans.

When the mental threads swayed near them, the mutated swans visibly raised their heads and looked around. Bai Chen Zhu gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and ramped up his mental power release.

The swans immediately locked onto his position. One by one, they spread their wings, stretched their necks, and took off from the water surface. Their webbed feet paddled rapidly across the water, charging ashore at an unbelievable speed.

The speed at which the swans moved on land far exceeded Bai Chen Zhu’s imagination.

Facing this group of monsters the size of kindergarten kids, he belatedly felt fear. His face paled slightly, and he turned to flee.

The grove was right behind him. The relentlessly pursuing swans flapped their wings with honks. Wind whooshed behind him. Bai Chen Zhu ducked low, and one big white swan flew over his head, narrowly missing its grab.

That swan turned and lunged again, stretching its neck to bite at the pocket on his chest—missing by less than a knuckle’s width. It was a close call; if it had twisted into his flesh just now, it would have torn off a chunk of meat.

The swans closed in, forming a siege. Bai Chen Zhu scrambled up the tree trunk in a few quick leaps, panting slightly.

The mutated geese below wouldn’t leave. They paced around the tree, stretching their necks to attack the trunk, letting out shrill cries. Their round eyes stared fixedly at the prey in the tree.

Damn it! Where was Jiang Ye? Why was he so slow! Bai Chen Zhu’s heart pounded with lingering fear. He absolutely dared not climb down.

He closed his eyes and searched the darkness for the earlier glow. He could vaguely ‘see’ Jiang Ye’s glow in the pond, approaching that star-like point.

Bai Chen Zhu opened his eyes and looked down at the noisy flock of geese that wanted to devour him. Recalling the close call from moments ago, he sucked in a breath.

He turned his head to look at the torn corner of his shirt hem and casually straightened his disheveled shirt. Thinking of the swan that had tried to peck his pocket, he patted the pocket on his chest—and inexplicably pulled out a small handkerchief.

The handkerchief was soaked red with blood. Since some time had passed, it had turned reddish-brown. Stray mental power lingered on it, not his own.

When did Jiang Ye plant this on me? Bai Chen Zhu frowned. Recalling how Jiang Ye had kept trying to stuff things into his backpack on the way, he figured it was planted then.

He rubbed the handkerchief between his fingers, staining his fingertips with a fresh bloody scent. He thought for a moment, then tore off half the handkerchief with both hands and tentatively tossed it down.

The ravenous mutated geese saw this heavenly gift—even more enticing than the earlier ‘food’—and scrambled to peck at it madly.

Somehow, their teeth were positioned to tear. Bai Chen Zhu had needed some force to rip the handkerchief, but in their mouths, it shredded like tissue paper and went straight down their gullets.

Then, they emitted sharp bursting sounds. They went berserk, slamming their heads against the tree. Bai Chen Zhu hugged the trunk tightly as it shook, shedding leaves in showers.

The swans staggered away with dizzy heads, fleeing like they’d seen the grim reaper, shrieking all the while.

The one that had just pecked at Bai Chen Zhu’s clothes took a few steps before splatting to the ground with a thud, motionless.

Seeing this familiar scene, Bai Chen Zhu had already guessed whose blood it was.

So ruthless. Bai Chen Zhu silently regarded the remaining half-handkerchief in his hand.

Bai Tao’s mental power was similarly attractive, but as a mutated mental ability user, her superpower was highly aggressive. The last time he’d seen her use it, she’d killed someone remotely in a fit of rage. Whoever touched it suffered. These swans had dared to eat it directly—they wouldn’t fare well.

It must have been the blood Jiang Ye got from chatting with Bai Tao before they left. He just didn’t know why it contained mental power.

Bai Chen Zhu prudently didn’t climb down right away. He simply sat on the branch, planning to wait for Jiang Ye. With the threat gone, he leaned against the trunk and casually surveyed the surroundings.

He never expected that if he didn’t go down, someone else couldn’t wait.

A drooling dog burst from the bushes. Its eyes were bloodshot. It snarled at Bai Chen Zhu in the tree, baring its ferocious, bloody maw.

It was a large dog taller than a person’s knee, its four paws tipped with sharp claws, a collar around its neck. Behind it emerged a man holding the leash.

One man and one dog walked out from the grove.

If not for the time and place, Bai Chen Zhu would have had to praise the bond between master and pet—they’d stuck together even after mutation… Wait, no?!

That was a human!

Bai Chen Zhu looked toward the man he’d overlooked earlier and realized the one leading this ferocious mutated dog was a living, breathing human.

The man noticed his gaze and slowly smiled, fine wrinkles creasing his face. He was a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties, eyes gleaming with cunning. He wore a branded outdoor fishing outfit, and the muscles visible on his fitted clothes didn’t match his face.

He picked up a fragment of the handkerchief from under the tree, fiddled with it, and fed it to his dog. He stood, raised his palm, and waved. “What a coincidence, bro. You’re an ability user too?”

What did ‘too’ mean?

That damned mutated dog circled the base of the tree. Bai Chen Zhu’s eyelid twitched. “Do you need something? If not, can you leash your dog tighter?”

The mutated dog ate the handkerchief and began shaking its head restlessly, baring its teeth and occasionally roaring excitedly at the man. After receiving a slap from the man, it quieted down and staggered around with whimpers.

Two minutes passed. Under their gazes, it panted heavily and shakily stood up. It lowered its body, wagged its tail, circled around the base of the tree, and sniffed at the scents.

Something was wrong with this dog. It had consumed Bai Tao’s blood just like the others, yet it sobered up so quickly and even obeyed the man. Bai Chen Zhu immediately thought of Jiang Ye’s earlier mention of ‘newborn’.

How could a mutated dog have an ‘owner’? Even if the man subdued it with violence, a mutated dog could not be beaten into submission because it was no longer a creature with emotions or intelligence.

Unless that dog had been fed sufficient mental power.

Was the man here in the park to find things to feed his pet?

Bai Chen Zhu immediately had an idea. He sized up the man and his pet at the base of the tree, assuming the man planned to hunt swans to feed the mutated dog, so he watched them indifferently as if it were none of his business.

“Of course there’s something.” The man said those chilling words in a flat tone. “My dog likes you a lot.”

Those words made Bai Chen Zhu’s heart skip a beat. He hardened his expression and warily observed the man. “What do you mean?”

The man chuckled with his rough, hoarse voice. “Deaf? Pretty boy, I said my dog likes you a lot.”

No sooner had he spoken than the mutated dog barked ‘woof woof,’ wagged its tail, and clawed at the tree trunk, leaving one scratch mark after another. Its pair of blood-red eyes stared longingly at Bai Chen Zhu in the tree, drooling with desire.

In that instant, Bai Chen Zhu’s heart plummeted into an abyss.

Aside from Jiang Ye and Bai Tao, this was the second ability user he had encountered.

The previous ability user, that Security Head, had massacred the hotel under the banner of ‘eliminating harm for the people.’ The one before him seemed no different—a brutal criminal.

And even worse, the Security Head at least had a pretext to cover his atrocities, but this man was openly insane, which made him more terrifying than the former. It showed the man was very confident in his abilities.

More terrifying than zombies were humans. Bai Chen Zhu looked at the ferocious dog gnawing on the bark and clawing at the trunk in hunger, as well as the man watching with a smile on his face. He shouted coldly, “Do you know what you’re saying? Lunatic, are you trying to kill someone?”

“Hahaha, what are you talking about?” The burly man didn’t change his expression. “Do you have proof?”

With that, he released the rope in his hand. The mutated dog barked ‘woof woof’ and kicked off powerfully with its sturdy hind legs, clawing up the trunk, only to slide back down in moments.

The burly man grinned, clenched his fist, and punched the thick trunk. The entire tree trembled and shook off a few leaves.

He had witnessed Jiang Ye’s strength before, but this man’s was even more exaggerated! Bai Chen Zhu’s expression changed abruptly as he steadied himself on the trunk.

“Looks like your superpower isn’t much.” The corners of the burly man’s mouth lifted, revealing a sinister smile. “Trash has no right to survive. Just obediently become dog food.”

With that, he brutally and wildly treated the trunk like a punching bag and launched a fierce assault.

Each punch produced a massive impact sound. The tree shook nonstop, leaves rustling down endlessly, and Bai Chen Zhu nearly got shaken off.

Suddenly, a horizontal fine crack appeared on the trunk, and it began to widen continuously.